Bloodline
by BatmanLoonaticsFan96
Summary: When Will's little sister comes home from private school to attend Sky High with him and runs into some interesting people, she finds herself launched into her own battle against the bad guys and the development of some strange new powers... *DISCONTINUED*
1. Return of the Trixie

Bloodline

Chapter 1: Return of the Trixie

15-year-old Will Stronghold lay asleep in his bed. He kept dreaming of that night…homecoming…it had been months, but it only felt like yesterday…

_Royal Pain threw him out the window._

_"WILL!" Layla cried, unable to help._

_In real life, Will had lifted himself through the air, revealing that he could fly…but in his dreams, he just kept falling…_

Suddenly, Will jolted awake to an irritating beeping sound. He turned to his bedside table and saw his alarm clock going off. He'd forgotten to turn it off last night. Tomorrow was the first day of his sophomore year at Sky High. Hopefully, it would go better than the first one. He groaned and fell back down on his pillow. After a few more minutes, he got up and went downstairs for breakfast.

"Hey, Will!" his dad said, "How's it going? Feeling OK?"

"I'm fine, Dad," said Will, sitting down and starting to eat.

His mom was going through the mail. "Bill, bill, bill, gratitude letter from the mayor, bill…huh. There's a letter from Trixie in here."

Will started choking. His dad went over there and hit him in the back. Will fell off his chair.

"Are you OK, son? Did I hit you too hard?"

Will got up. "Little bit." He looked at his mom. "Trixie wrote us?"

"Yeah," said his mom, starting to open the letter, "Let's see what she said…" She tugged on it. "And she glued it shut."

"Oh, I got this one." Steve took it and ripped off the top of the envelope. "There you go."

Josie took the letter back and unfolded it. "Alright, let's see what she has to say."

Will was slightly busy remembering the last time he'd seen Trixie…

*** Flashback ***

_3 years ago…_

Trixie was in her room, packing up to go to school.

Will knocked on her door.

"Come in."

Will walked in. "You're really leaving?"

"I'll be back by the time you graduate Sky High, Teddy Bear."

"Stop calling me that. Just 'cause my middle name is Theodore doesn't mean you should address me by that name. We're not kids anymore."

Trixie smiled. "I kind of wish we were." She zipped her suitcase shut. "Remind me again why you're planning on going to Sky High without any powers?"

"I'm gonna have powers by then, Tricks. Just watch."

"Right," Trixie said, turning to face him, "You keep thinking that." She hugged him. "I'll write as much as I can. Tell Layla I'll miss her."

"No problem," said Will, hugging back, "She told me to tell you the same thing."

Trixie smiled again and let go. "You're a great brother, Will. See you soon. I hope." With that, she left.

*** End Flashback ***

Great brother. Right. When she first got there, she was writing everyday. Then she slowly started to drift off and they barely heard from her once a month. Some sister she was.

Josie started to read the letter. "'Dear Mom, Dad, and Will, I miss you all and I'm sorry I haven't been writing as much lately. School got a lot harder the past couple years and I'd been focused on my studies with nothing else to do. I would ask how you all are, but I already know.' …What?" Josie was taken by surprise.

Steve and Will were, too. How did Trixie know what had happened?

"'Don't ask me how I know what happened, I'll tell you: Something happened to me at the end of the last semester. I don't know what, but something happened. I think my powers are coming in after all, late like Will's. While studying for a final one night, I felt a strange sensation in my eyes and was suddenly yanked from my body and across the state back to Sky High, where I've never been before! I saw Will fighting Royal Pain, who I recognized though I hadn't seen her before either. I saw Will getting his powers, too, and was curious. When I went back into my body, I immediately stopped studying and hastened to write you the last letter I sent, asking you how you were doing and if anything strange had happened. Sure enough, you wrote me back and told me that Will had gotten both of your powers and saved you all. I was scared and didn't write back all summer, afraid to talk to anyone. Then I realized that I was getting my powers. One night, I saw something coming. Something was going to happen in the chemistry lab. Out of instinct, I ran to stop it and ended up being the reason it happened in the first place. Unfortunately, I was instantly expelled for causing the explosion from the chemicals, but I'm willing to come back home and go to Sky High with Will if it's possible. I'll be there as soon as you get this letter.'"

_DING DONG!_

Steve ran to the door and looked through the peephole to see his 14-year-old daughter on the other side.

"'If you just heard a doorbell as soon as you read that last part, which I assume you did, answer it. It's me.'"

Steve opened the door.

Trixie smiled. "Love, your daughter/sister, Trixie Stronghold."

Will walked up to his little sister. "How'd you do that?"

Trixie looked at him. "With my powers."

Will smiled. He looked his little sister up and down. She still had the standard brown hair and blue eyes, but her skin was a few shades darker and she was considerably bigger having gone from 11 to 14. "You grew up on me anyway."

Trixie smiled again. "I missed you guys, you know." She hugged her dad.

Steve smiled. "I missed you, too, Tricks." He hugged her back.

Trixie coughed. "Dad…choking…not breathing."

"Oh, sorry!" Steve let go.

Trixie laughed and hugged her brother. "Whoa!" She backed off him, too. "You're strong after all, huh?"

Will laughed.

Josie and Trixie hugged, too.

"So what's the deal with these powers of yours?" asked Will.

Trixie looked at him. "Why don't you stop by power placement tomorrow and find out?" _As long as they work the way they should…_


	2. Meet Your New Classmates

Chapter 2: Meet Your New Classmates

Trixie walked into her old room, dropped her suitcase by the dresser, closed her door, looked around, and sighed. "I missed this place." She fell onto her bed. "I should've never gone to that school. Oh, well. Now I get to spend 4 whole years at Sky High, 3 of which I get to spend with my brother." She got up and got ready for bed. She got into bed. "Welcome home, me." She read for about 5 minutes and then suddenly stopped. "Oh, no. I'm spending 3 years of high school with my brother!"

_Down the street…_

Layla was in the living room with her mom, watching a movie. Finally, the movie ended and her mom shut off the TV.

"You OK, Layla?" asked her mom.

"Fine, Mom."

Her mom let her snuggle up to her. "Tomorrow your first day of your sophomore year at Sky High. Can you believe it?"

Layla smiled. "Nope. At least I get to spend it with Will."

"And…one other person…"

Layla sat upright and looked at her mother. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Layla looked at her. "OK, I may have…invited your aunt and cousin to come stay with us for the year."

"WHAT?"

"Layla, your aunt, Azura, just got divorced and her husband has claims to her house, so she and Odessa have nowhere to stay. I, being her sister, invited them to live with us and Odessa will be going to Sky High with you and Will!"

Layla stared at her mother. "When are they coming?"

_DING DONG!_

"Tonight."

Layla got up and answered the door. Sure enough, there was her brunette aunt Azura and her blonde cousin Odessa. "Aunt Azura! Cousin Odessa!"

"Layla!" Odessa cried, instantly hugging her cousin, "Hi! How are you? It's been way too long!"

"It's only been a year, Ode."

"Exactly my point."

"Well, stop hugging me!"

Odessa let go. "Sorry."

Azura and Layla hugged for a few seconds. Then her mom, aunt, and cousin all had to exchange hugs as she shut the door to their house. She could already tell this was gonna be a long year. She went up to her room and get ready for bed. As she prepared to go to sleep, she realized her mom had said Odessa was gonna go to Sky High with her. Her aunt didn't have any powers and her uncle never even found out about Azura's side of the family, so how could Odessa have any powers? And what were they? While Layla pondered these thoughts, she heard a knock on her door and Odessa came in and dropped her stuff on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"There's no room for me in the guest room, I have to stay with you."

"There's plenty of room in the guest room! This is my room!"

Odessa sat down on the bed. "Layla, no offense…but you live in an attic that's half full!"

Layla looked at the empty half of the room. "Maybe, but exactly! Half _full_! If it were half _empty_ then sure!"

"Lay, it's the same thing!"

Layla considered this and then realized she had no choice. "Fine!" She started climbing under the covers as Odessa got on the couch. "But if you're gonna be staying in my room all year, I'm putting up a wall!"

Odessa realized that she'd said "all year"… "About that…"

"What now?" Layla groaned.

"Well…the thing is…Mom-has-no-job-and-can't-raise-enough-money-to-get-a-condo-for-the-both-of-us-so-we-may-be-stuck-here-for-the-rest-of-our-lives. Good night!" She quickly turned off the light.

"Ode!" Layla yelled, "Odessa!" She groaned again and fell back onto her pillow.

_The next morning…_

Layla walked up to the bus stop.

Will ran up to her. "Hey, Layla!"

Layla smiled when she saw her boyfriend. "Hey, Will."

"How are you doing?"

"Yesterday, I was doing just fine. Then absolute terror showed up at my door last night."

Will stopped smiling. "What happened?"

Odessa came up behind Layla. "Hi-hi!"

"My aunt and cousin are living with us."

"Oh!" said Will, "Odessa! Hi. I never thought I'd see you again."

"Yeah, ditto," said Odessa, "I'm a bit surprised myself. I hear you 2 are boyfriend/girlfriend now!"

"Layla told you?"

"Nope, you just did."

Will turned back to Layla. "She's good." Layla scoffed. "Well, I guess I feel your pain. Guess who showed up yesterday."

"Will! Wait for me!" Trixie ran up. "Layla! Odessa? You didn't tell me Odessa was living here!"

"I didn't know," said Will.

"Trixie?" Layla and Odessa both asked. Trixie nodded. "Wow." Layla and Odessa looked at each other and turned back to Trixie and Will.

"You came back from private school to go to Sky High?" asked Layla.

"Yup," said Trixie, "Actually, I was expelled, but it was because of my powers, so the school happily accepted me."

"So what can you do?" asked Odessa.

"I—" Before Trixie could explain that she might not be able to…well, explain, the bus pulled up.

The bus door opened to reveal Ron Wilson in the driver's seat. "Welcome back, Will, Layla."

Will and Layla smiled and nodded and walked on.

Trixie and Odessa followed…at the same time, thus getting stuck in the doorway.

"And who are these young ladies?" asked Ron.

Trixie pulled her way through the door, Odessa following. "Hi. I'm Trixie."

"Ron Wilson. Bus driver."

"Right."

Ron closed the doors. "So would our 2 new freshmen like to introduce themselves?"

Odessa smiled. "I'm Odessa Dillon, Layla's cousin."

"And I'm Trixie, Will's sister."

Ron almost fell out of his seat. "Will has a sister?"

"I get that a lot. You get accepted to a private school, spend middle school there, and then get kicked out and sent to your older brother's high school and everybody wants to know you."

"Well, you're welcome on my bus any day." Trixie and Odessa smiled. "Now sit down!" Both girls instantly stopped smiling and sat down by a few other kids. The bus started up and everyone lurched forward as they slowly drove down the street.

While they were waiting, Trixie decided to mingle with the kids that were sitting by her. She turned to a young, dark-haired boy sitting in front of her. "Hey. How are you doing?"

The boy looked at her and quickly turned back.

"Good morning?"

Still nothing.

"To which the proper response is also 'good morning.'"

"Don't bother with Gordon," said a dark-haired girl they were sitting next to, who was looking out the window, "He's girl-shy. Just try spending 20 minutes with him."

"And you are?" asked Odessa.

The girl looked at them. Her eyes were white, but there were no pupils, just purple irises. "My name's Whisper. Whisper Peace."

Trixie recognized the name Peace from Will's letters. "Are you related to Warren Peace?"

"You know, I read that book once, but—" Odessa started.

"Not _War and Peace_!" Trixie snapped, "Warren Peace!"

Whisper looked at them. "He's my brother. Isn't he your brother's friend?"

Trixie smiled. "Yeah."

Whisper smiled.

Trixie then felt someone tapping her shoulder from behind. She turned around and saw a blonde boy sitting with Zach. "Oh, great."

"Hey, you're Will's little sis, right?" asked Zach.

"Yup."

"Well, this is my little brother."

"'Sup," said the boy, turning his baseball cap sideways, "Name's Zane."

"Zach and Zane?" asked Odessa, "Seriously?"

"Alright, just for that," said Zane, "I'm zapping you first when I show my powers at power placement today." He got up and went to sit with Gordon.

"Yeah, Zane's good friends with Ethan's nephew there," said Zach.

Trixie was shocked. "That's _Ethan's_ nephew?"

"Yeah, hard to believe, huh? Wait till you see his powers. No, seriously, wait. 'Cause I don't even know what they are."

Trixie nodded.

Suddenly, the bus lurched forward again and let in the last 2 kids. It was Magenta and her little sister, Magnolia.

Ron smiled again as he closed the door. "That's everyone."

"Brace yourself," Will warned his sister as Ron switched his hats.

Ron kept going and led to a broken bridge.

"Is the right way to school?" asked Odessa.

"Trust me, it's the right way," said Layla as Ron activated everyone's seatbelts.

"Here we go!" said Ron as he ran over the edge of the bridge. Trixie and Odessa naturally noticed this and grabbed onto each other, screaming. Ron scoffed. "Every year, same thing with the freshmen." He activated the rocket boosters on the bus and sped off.

Trixie and Odessa stopped screaming when they noticed this. They looked at each other. They kept screaming.

Magnolia bent over to them and stopped them. "Relax, think of it like Space Mountain."

"And you are?" asked Trixie.

"Magnolia, Magenta's sister."

"Trixie, Will's sister."

"Odessa, Layla's cousin."

"Nice to meet you!"

Trixie and Odessa went back to whimpering to each other (this time without screaming).

Finally, Ron turned off the rockets and pulled up to the school building.

"Have we landed on our home planet yet?" asked Gordon.

"Better," said Ron, opening the doors, "Welcome to Sky High."

Gordon sighed and turned to Zane. "Zane, you can open your eyes now."

Zane opened his eyes and looked around. He smiled. "OK. I can deal with this." He unbuckled his seatbelt and got up.


	3. Heroes and Sidekicks

Chapter 3: Heroes and Sidekicks

The freshmen loaded into the gym. Will, Layla, Magenta, Zach, Ethan, and Warren sat on the bleachers, too, to check on the kids (yes, they are allowed to watch power placement).

Principal Powers came up to the podium on the platform. "Hi. I'm Principal Powers. And welcome, all of you, to Sky High."

"Wahoo!" Zane cried.

"Alright!" Zach added.

Principal Powers glared at both of them and they shut up. She turned back to the freshmen. "In a few moments, you'll be put through power placement to determine where you stand, hero or hero support."

While she kept going, Trixie started thinking. _I hope my powers work right. I don't want a repeat of Will's mishap last year…_

Principal Powers finally stopped. She walked away from the podium. "Comets away!" She turned into a glowing ball of light and disappeared. While the students were marveling at this, the podium was replaced by Coach Boomer.

"Alright," said Coach Boomer, "I am your coach, Boomer. Some of you may know me as Sonic Boom. Others may not. Now let me explain this process to you kids: you will step up to this podium and show us your powers—yes, you will do this in front of the entire class—and from this, I will determine your class—hero or sidekick. Now, there are some students, or as I like to call them _whiner-babies_, who like to complain about their status. But my word is law. My judgment is final. And there will be no whiner-babies. Are we clear?" He got some mumbled responses among the class. Seeing what was coming, Will, Layla, Zach, Magenta, Ethan, and Warren all covered their ears. "I said…are…we…CLEAR?" His voice rang out at them, pounding on their eardrums.

"YES, COACH BOOMER!" everyone instantly said.

"…Coach Boomer!" Zach and Ethan said.

Everyone looked at them.

"Sorry," said Zach.

"Force of habit," said Ethan.

The coach blew his whistle. "Alright…" He scanned the crowd of freshmen and finally pointed at Whisper. "You, purple eyes, let's go."

Whisper put a hand on her hip and strutted up to the platform. She turned to the audience and looked into everyone's eyes…

_I wonder what her power is…_

_What's taking so long? Let's go!_

_I hope I'm not a sidekick!_

_What's up with her eyes?_

"Any day now, kid," said Coach Boomer.

Whisper looked at one boy. "He thinks I'm pretty." She turned to one girl. "She thinks I'm out of his league." She turned back to the coach. "I think she's right." The coach nodded, realizing what her power was. "And you're thinking I'm a mind reader."

Coach Boomer got out his pen and checked the "hero" box on the name Whisper Peace. "Whisper as in thoughts…hero."

Zane scoffed. "I can beat that." He walked up to the platform.

Odessa tried to stop him.

Layla sighed and turned to Zach. "He's too much like you."

"I know."

"I don't remember calling you," said Coach Boomer.

"Name's Zane," said Zane, "Try to keep your socks on." He turned to Odessa and pointed at her. He realized nothing happened and pointed at her again.

"Again, any day."

Zane forced out a small smile. "I, uh…guess my beams only work at night."

"What?"

"Well, I have these moon beam things with the…well, the moon and I actually zapped my brother here the other night and I guess they don't really work in the daytime because the moon isn't showing. Maybe if we could, you know, do me after dark, we could—"

"SIDEKICK!"

"I'm going." Zane got off the platform.

After 2 more heroes and a sidekick, Coach Boomer turned to Gordon. "Alright, let's go, nerd boy."

Gordon walked up to the platform and shrunk.

"You're a shrink?" asked the coach.

"Kind of, yeah!" Gordon called up in a tiny voice.

The coach scoffed. "Sidekick."

Gordon turned back to normal and walked off.

After a few more kids, the coach called up Magnolia.

Magnolia got onto the platform and jumped up. She jumped with such force that she was able to grab onto the ceiling and back down.

The coach considered this. "Sidekick."

Magnolia sighed. "Good enough, I guess." She walked off.

About 10 kids later, Odessa came onto the platform. She closed her eyes, breathed in, concentrated, and disappeared.

Coach Boomer (and everyone else) looked around. "Hello?"

"Right here."

Coach Boomer whirled around and saw Odessa reappear. "Invisibility. Wow. Nice. Haven't seen that one in a long time. Only the ordinary-born kids get that."

"I am."

"Well, that aside, hero!"

Odessa squealed with delight.

"Don't ruin it."

"Right." Odessa got off the stage.

The bell rang.

"We'll finish after lunch," said Coach Boomer, examining his clipboard, "Starting with…Trixie Stronghold."

Trixie recognized her name…

_10 minutes later…_

"I am telling you," said Zane as the 12 of them got ready to eat, "I was this close to nailing the hero track. If he had just waited until after dark, I would've taken it!"

"I guess you should've been practicing yesterday to make sure you could do it and that it wasn't a bluff," said Odessa.

"It wasn't a bluff! I did it! I zapped Zach here across the table!"

"He's right," said Zach, "I have the bruises from being knocked into a chair to prove it."

Odessa turned to Layla. "Bet you didn't think I'd be an invisible, huh?"

"Definitely not," said Layla, starting to eat her sandwich, "What about you, Tricks?"

Trixie forced out a smile. "Guess you'll have to wait and see." She turned back to her meal, her smile fading. "Trust me, it's gonna be a surprise." She munched on a chip.

_After lunch…_

Trixie stood on the platform, looking at everyone. She started to say something, then decided to just tell the coach.

The coach listened to what she had to say. "What do you mean you can't use your power on demand?"

Trixie cringed at the volume he'd repeated that in. "Exactly what I said. I mean, I know what I can do, but it just doesn't work like I want it to yet. It's just coming in! And even when I do feel my power kicking in, I can't be completely sure that—" Suddenly, she gasped and whirled around. Her eyes were getting that burning sensation again. She couldn't see it, but her pupils were enlarging to where they just barely left her irises visible. Then the whites of her eyes turned completely red.

The coach looked at her. "Anyone in there?"

No response. Suddenly, Trixie took in another deep breath and fell backward onto the platform. She looked at the coach. "Duck!"

"What?"

"Just duck now!" She pulled him down just before a window exploded and the shards of glass raced through the air where the coach's head had been.

Everyone immediately started wondering what had happened.

The coach looked at Trixie, who was staring fearfully back at him.


	4. Dark Beginnings

Chapter 4: Dark Beginnings…

"I can't believe he still made you a sidekick!" Layla was ranting to Trixie as the gang walked down the halls, "You practically saved the man's life!"

"I bet he's scared of me," said Trixie.

"Now, Tricks, you know that's not possible," said Will.

"Actually, I'm pretty scared," said Zach. They all looked at him. "Shutting up."

The team split up. Will, Layla, Warren, Magenta, Ethan, and Zach went to the sophomore hero class (they'd all been upgraded after the events of homecoming); Trixie, Magnolia, Gordon, and Zane went to the freshman sidekick class; and Odessa and Whisper went to the freshman hero class.

_Back in the gym…_

One of the teachers, a Mrs. Yew, walked into the gym and began to examine the glass shards on the floor. She picked up one glass piece and examined it… She held it up to the light and saw an etching appear on the glass…that hadn't been there before… "Hmm…" She started gathering the rest of the big pieces of glass…

_In the sidekick class…_

Trixie, Magnolia, Gordon, and Zane sat at their desks.

Mr. Boy walked in. "Hello, class. Welcome to hero support! I am…" He jumped under the desk and emerged in a red, white, and blue costume with a tiny cape. "All-American Boy!" No one seemed impressed. "Of course, nowadays…" He took off his mask. "…I just go by Mr. Boy. Now, in this class, you will all learn what's it's like to help heroes!" Still nothing but coughs and crickets chirping (I'm serious, there was a kid who could make annoying noises like cricket chirps). "Alright then. Any questions before I take attendance? No? OK." He picked up his clipboard. "Uh…" He went through about 2 dozens names before he came to r. "Rant."

"Here."

"Rueben."

"Here."

"Sapphire."

"Here."

"Stronghold. Stronghold?"

"Here," Trixie said, unenthusiastically, playing with her pencil.

Mr. Boy looked at her. "Steve and Josie had a daughter?"

Trixie nodded.

"Did they happen to mention me?"

"Will wrote about you in his letters."

"Huh?"

"Oh, I spent middle school in a private school."

"Oh. Right. Well then…Summers?" Mr. Boy kept going on.

_In the science lab…_

Mr. Medulla finished class with the heroes. "Alright, everyone work on the homework. I will see you all…" Before he could finish, everyone was gone. "…tomorrow." Mrs. Yew then came up and knocked on the door. "Ah! Mrs. Yew! Come in, come in."

Mrs. Yew nodded. "Listen, Mr. Medulla, did you hear about what happened at Trixie Stronghold's power placement?"

"Yes, yes, I did. Unfortunate that such a talented seer be put on the sidekick track."

"Well, I went back to examine the glass shards and I think that someone out there used their powers to send us a message."

Mr. Medulla looked at her. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Here, let me show you." She closed the door and unzipped her bag. "Open the curtains." Mr. Medulla complied. She laid her bag on the table and pulled out one of the glass shards. "Now, take a good look at it." She held it in the shadows. Mr. Medulla looked at it. "Nothing, right?"

"Nothing but glass, correct."

"Well, hold it in the light, and…" Mrs. Yew put the glass in the light and revealed the etching in the glass.

Mr. Medulla looked at this and his eyes widened. "We have to examine these. Did you get all the shards?"

"All the ones I could." Mrs. Yew poured the glass on the floor as Mr. Medulla moved the desks aside and opened all the curtains. She put on gloves to protect herself for the sharp crystalline fragments. "Let's go to work."

The 2 teachers kept going putting together the glass pieces like a jigsaw puzzle, recruiting the extra help of anyone else who dared to walk into the room.

By the time the sun set, they had reassembled the whole window (except for a few tiny shards that weren't found but wouldn't have made a difference anyway).

Mr. Medulla, closing all the curtains since they would make no difference, walked over to the lights to reveal to the whole of the staff what was printed on the window. "Is everyone ready?"

The rest of the staff all nodded.

Medulla closed the door and turned on the light.

Everyone looked at the glass engraving on the floor and gasped at the message of the inscription:

_"Surrender the Mages or the Sisters shall return"_

"What could that mean?" asked Mrs. Yew.

Principal Powers sighed. "I don't know. Medulla, do some research. Boomer, Boy, and I will watch the kids and see if any of them are…different. Yew and the rest of you will have to continue as normal. We may all have to prepare for the fight of our lives…"

_Meanwhile…_

_At the Stronghold house…_

"Sidekick?" Steve cried, cutting through his steak…and plate…and the table. He tossed his knife aside. "Come on! Seer…that's an amazing power! A rare one, too! It's only ever been seen 2 other times in the past century!"

"Steve," Josie said, "in case you're forgetting, one of those 2 times was Boomer's arch nemesis. Maybe he's intimidated by her."

"Even after she saved his life?" Will cried.

"It's OK, guys," said Trixie, "I'm fine."

"But we're not, Tricks!" said Will, "You deserve the hero track! Odessa got it, for crying out loud!"

"Odessa is here?" asked Steve as he started eating his steak.

Trixie threw her hands in the air and left. "Long day. I'm turning in." She left. Halfway up the stairs, she stopped. Her eyes slowly changed again…

_9 people in cloaks were in a dark room lit by candles._

_"The people at that school haven't surrendered the Mages," said one, a female, "We shall have to attack soon."_

_"Isn't it questionable whether or not they even have the Mages?" asked another girl._

_"Or if they do," said another, "whether or not they know about it?"_

_"Surely they know by now!" cried the first one, "One of them is a seer! Another was born to mortals and still received powers! Another reads thoughts, even has the name of the original Mage in her place!"_

_"Don't worry," said another girl, "We will find them…and destroy them…starting with the seer…" She pulled down her hood…_

Trixie fell onto the stairwell as her eyes returned to normal.

Steve, Josie, and Will heard the clatter and ran to the stairs to check on her.

"Are you OK, Tricks?" asked Will, "What happened? Say something!"

Trixie was panting heavily. "No, my powers, and I'm trying! Oh, aching eyes, aching eyes!"

Josie helped her daughter up. "It's the aftershock of your powers. You'll get used to it if you keep seeing like this."

Trixie groaned. "I don't wanna keep seeing like this! It's causing nothing but trouble! I wish these powers would just go away!" She ran up the stairs and to her room, falling on her bed and sobbing into her pillow.

_With the Sisters…_

The girls from the vision Trixie was just having took off their cloaks. They were all normal 21-year-old girls, each with different eyes, hair, and skin colors. The first one was a redhead with sea blue eyes; the second one was a strawberry blonde with baby blue eyes; the third one was a blonde with sky blue eyes; another one had auburn hair and cookie dough brown eyes; another one had dark brunette hair and light brown eyes; another one had light brunette hair and blue-green eyes; another one had dirty blonde hair and light green eyes; another one had brown hair and dark green eyes; and the last one had fire red hair and red eyes.

#9 smiled with an idea. "The Mages are not coming out…perhaps we should give the seer a bit of a hint…"

_In the library across town…_

The library was shut down, but one of the books started moving off the shelf…by itself… The book came off the shelf and flew through the air. A window opened and let the book out, closing itself behind it. The book shot through the air and into Trixie's room. It fell on her table and began to race through the pages before finally stopping on one page.

Trixie's head snapped up from her pillow. She looked at the table and saw the book. She got up and went over there to see what it was. She sat down at the table and started to read the chapter…

_"Merlin was not the first to practice magic. In the year 500, 6 Mages were born in the same year. Upon meeting and revealing their powers, the Mages joined together to defeat many horrible villains, the most evil of which was the Sage Sisters. 9 sisters joined together by awful magic, the Mages, 4 girls and 2 boys, banded together their powers to defeat them and stop them from ushering in an age of permanent night. Since the Sage Sisters were not killed, merely banished, the Mages decided to cast a spell with the Sisters' magic. The spell supposedly allowed their power to be reawakened in different souls once every generation, in different forms each time. The powers are always varying, but they always have an elemental, a mortal-born, a mind-reader, and a seer. …"_

Trixie's eyes widened. Was it possible this book was talking about her, Odessa, Whisper, Gordon, Zane, and Magnolia?


	5. First Semester

Chapter 5: First Semester

Odessa was working on some homework with Layla when the phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello? Oh, hi, Tricks!" She listened to what Trixie had to say and her smile slowly faded. "_WHAT?_"

_The next morning…_

Odessa cornered Trixie before entering the school building. "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. It has to be! And you didn't tell Layla in case I'm wrong, right?"

"Right. I just told her that you saw something and were afraid someone was in trouble. I didn't give any details."

"Good. I just hope I'm not wrong. I mean, how cool would it be to have the powers of 6 Mages?"

"One problem: each of us only has one power. These Mages, the way you described them, had at least 5 each, _not _counting their magic. Where does that put us? Sidekicks."

"I don't think so. I'm gonna prove my theory if it kills me…which I so hope it won't." With that said, Trixie walked into the building and went straight for her locker. She opened it. She started pulling her books out to put them in it. Then she looked at the book in her backpack…

"Hey," Will said, walking up.

Trixie looked at him. "Nothing!" She caught herself. "I mean, hi."

"Are you OK?"

"Of course, I'm OK. I'm fine. Perfect. Spectacular!"

Will jumped slightly. "You seem pretty jumpy."

"Jumpy? Who's jumpy? I'm not jumpy!" She giggled, nervously. "I've gotta go." She started to walk off. _I am not good at hiding things._

"I'll say."

Trixie jumped and looked at Whisper, who was leaning against the wall cornering the wall where her locker was. "Don't do that! Thoughts are private, you know."

"Look, Magnolia heard your conversation and just told me about it while you were freaking out at your brother."

Magnolia jumped down from the ceiling. "I thought we weren't gonna corner her about this yet!"

"It involves us, we have to."

Magnolia glanced at Trixie for a second and then pulled her a little bit off to the side. "Listen, the thing about me hearing your conversation is…I was at my locker and you were outside."

Trixie looked at her. "What?"

Magnolia nodded.

"Which takes out the theory that we each just have one power as opposed to the required 5. But that book that flew into my room and showed me the article, it said that the Mages are reawakened in every generation in different forms but that they always contain a seer—me—a mortal born—Odessa—a mind-reader—Whisper—and an elemental. No one at power placement was an elemental and the Mages had to all be born in the same year."

"Yeah," said Gordon, coming up after hearing the whole thing, "but I just did a little research and the last 6 that met the requirements died exactly 16 years ago, just in time for our mothers to get pregnant with us."

"How could you have done that research if you just heard about this like 10 minutes ago?" asked Magnolia.

"The same reason I can do this." He ran off and came back in less than a second with a couple books from his locker.

Trixie blinked at this. "You…just…but…we…and I…'cause… Wow."

"Yup."

"So 2 of the 6 I have in mind have 2 powers. Maybe the rest are just lately blooming…no, we'd still need an elemental and none of us meet that qualification yet."

"Doesn't make a difference. Just wait until the rest of our powers come in."

"And if it's just the 2 of you getting extra?"

Magnolia shook her head. "That doesn't happen."

_Meanwhile…_

The 9 girls were together again.

"There's gotta be something we can do to find and destroy those Mages!" #4 was ranting.

"Perhaps we should go with my plan, sisters," said #1.

"I don't think so, Serena," snapped #9, who was obviously the leader.

Serena leaned back in her seat. "Even being the oldest, I have no authority here."

"We've all been alive for over 1500 years," said #7.

"Yeah, but I'm still oldest. Who named Saletta the leader? She's the youngest!"

Saletta (#9) smirked. "Don't worry, I have a plan: we take on the body of an innocent and infiltrate that school and find the Mages. And if they do not surrender, we shall destroy them and everyone close to them."

Serena blinked and glared at her. "That was my plan!"

"I used your plan as a springboard."

"Well, you stole my springboard!"

Saletta rolled her eyes and turned around. She groaned and looked at her hand. "Our spell is fading. This body cannot contain me any longer." She turned around. "Serena, Soliel, Sabine, Sharissa, Salvia, Song, Sedalia, and Susha, my dear sisters, we will rule this land soon." She stopped smiling. "But first…" Her red eyes flashed. "…we must find the Mages and destroy them."

_That night…_

A young brunette girl was walking down the street. Suddenly, she stopped. She thought she'd heard something. She shook away the thought when she saw no one there. She kept on. She slowed down a little when she saw a woman with auburn hair and cookie dough brown eyes looking at her. She looked at her for a second and then kept going.

The woman stopped her. "Forgive me. My name's Sharissa. …You are very pretty, do you know that?"

"I have to go."

"Oh, you don't need to go anywhere, no one's home."

"Alright, you're starting to scare me—" She shrieked slightly when Salvia came up behind her and grabbed her.

Salvia smiled at her. "She's perfect, Sharissa. Good work." Sharissa smiled. "Saletta!"

Saletta came up, followed by the other 6 sisters. She smiled at the girl. "Give her to me." Salvia handed her over. Saletta looked her over. "You're mine!" She attacked her.

_The next day…_

Principal Powers led the brunette girl into the gym during homeroom. "We usually don't get admissions only a few days late. But I guess it'd be hard to turn someone down in times like this. Boomer!" Coach Boomer came up to her. "We have a new admission here for power placement."

"I'll take her from here, just let me get things set up."

Principal Powers walked off.

While Boomer was getting the platform up, the brunette girl started talking to herself. "What do you think power placement is? I don't know, just go with it. Oh, I can explain it; while I was going through the admission stuff, it said that they choose if you end up as a hero or a sidekick based on your power—the Mages would probably be under 'hero' considering the fact that they each have more than one power."

Coach Boomer finished putting up the platform. "Alright. Get up here and let's do this."

The girl started up to the platform. "So what do we do? Let me handle this, girls; just don't talk so loudly or he'll hear you and think we're crazy." She got onto the platform.

"First things first, name."

She thought for a second. "Savonna Nightingale."

"Power?"

She smiled. She looked at the bleachers and saw a pair of sneakers there. She focused on them and they lifted up and slowly made their way over there. Then they started jerking around. "Stop fighting me, he'll think something's up." She maintained their position and rapidly put them back in the exact way they were when she'd levitated them in the first place.

"Telekinetic." He considered it. "What the hey. Hero."

Savonna smiled.

"Welcome to Sky High." He walked off.

She smiled after him. He had no idea that the Sage sisters were inside that girl's body…


	6. Causing Trouble

Chapter 6: Causing Trouble

The gang was collected at lunch.

"So who's who here?" asked Gordon.

"Well," said Odessa, "that boy over there, Cannon Bart, can make stuff blow up. And that boy over there, Randall Walton, can control the air. And that boy and girl over there, the twins, Mario and Maxine Maximus, can change…he can alter his anatomy—like turning into other people and stuff—and she can shape-shift—like turning into animals." Savonna then walked in. "And that girl…I don't know who she is, she must be new."

Savonna got her food and went to sit down. She was alone at her table and pretty distant from anybody. She started eating. "You know, it'd be helpful if they gave us bigger portions; we're eating for 9, for crying out loud! Keep it down before someone hears, Sabine."

Magnolia heard all this as she walked by with Trixie to get more food. "OK, that was weird. Did you hear her talking to herself?"

"No, you did."

"Right." She shrugged it off. "She must be schizophrenic or something."

Savonna heard this. "Oh, I'm gonna kill her—" She turned back to her food. "Don't do anything crazy, Serena. Don't tell me what to do, Saletta; don't worry, I'll go easy on her." She looked at Magnolia as she and Trixie walked by the twins, who were pretty darkly dressed. "They look menacing enough." She looked around to make sure no one was looking and zapped Magnolia's feet.

Magnolia slipped and knocked over Trixie.

Trixie, in falling over, dumped her tray onto Maxine by accident.

Maxine didn't see it quite that way. She turned into a snake and slithered over to Trixie. She turned back into herself, her coal black eyes glaring at her, and hissed as she lay on her belly on the floor, her hands holding her up. "You know, I really hate when sidekicks think they can do whatever they want—"

"It was an accident, I swear."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Really?"

"No!" She punched her in the nose.

Trixie grabbed her nose in pain.

Magnolia held out her hands at Maxine, knocking her back with energy waves that came from her palms.

Maxine was launched back into the table her brother was sitting at and they fell on the floor by it.

Trixie looked at Magnolia. "No way…" She helped her up. "Where'd that come from?"

"I don't know…"

Maxine's handed became paws, which grabbed the table and threw it at them.

Magnolia saw it coming behind Trixie. "Look out!"

Trixie whirled around and the table stopped in midair. "Whoa…"

Savonna saw all this. "I think we found the Mages." She glared at nothing. "You don't say." She sighed. "Soliel, we all know Sabine's an idiot, let's not rub it in her face. Hey!" She got up.

Whisper was still at the table, the only one who didn't turn and see the fight start. She turned around and saw…

_Magnolia tripped and knocked over Trixie._

_Trixie, in falling over, dumped her tray on Maxine by accident._

Whisper looked at the clock.

_12:17._

She blinked.

12:22.

What just happened?

The twins got up.

"Alright, let's try this another way." Maxine turned into a cheetah and ran at them.

Zane, reacting without thinking (and knowing that the cheetah was too fast to really fight), held out his hand.

The nearest water fountain exploded, releasing a stream of water…which redirected itself and aimed straight at cheetah Maxine.

Maxine dropped to the floor in her human form.

Zane looked at his hands. "Whoa."

Maxine whirled around to glare at Zane.

Zane noticed this and jumped up. He raced over there and jumped Mario…knocking him to the floor and lighting his shirt on fire. Zane instantly noticed this and put the fire out.

Trixie smiled at him. Zane was the elemental. They really were the Mages!

Gordon looked at Whisper and Odessa. "You know, we should probably go over there and help."

"Good idea," said Odessa, getting up and racing over there.

Gordon sped over there.

Whisper stood up…and Gordon and Odessa were frozen, as was everyone else. She looked around. She blinked her pupil-less eyes and everything was suddenly moving…granted, it was as slow a pace as possible, but they were moving. Whisper realized what was going on and smiled. She was a time-jumper! She released her hold on everyone and leaned over, grasping her stomach in slight pain from her power. She then caught herself and raced over to the others.

"Is it me," asked Will, "or are our siblings and cousin and nephew exhibiting extra powers?"

"No, it's not just you," said Layla.

Before Maxine or Mario could strike again (or Savonna or anyone else join the fight, for that matter), Magnolia jumped up and grabbed a banister on the ceiling and swung around it to give herself enough momentum to knock over Maxine when she let go.

But before the fight could get serious… "Ahem!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to see Principal Powers there.

_20 minutes later…_

All 8 kids were in the detention cell. They were stuck there for 2 hours.

_That night…_

Trixie raced into her house with Odessa, Magnolia, Whisper, Gordon, and Zane. "Mom! Dad! We have a situation!" She found them in the living room with Will, Layla, Magenta, Ethan, Zach, and Warren.

"You bet we do," said Steve.

Trixie looked at Will in confusion.

"Uh…Principal Powers called."

Trixie groaned. "Look, before you do something we're all gonna regret, let me explain…Magnolia tripped me."

Magnolia glared at her, openmouthed. "I tripped! I was standing next to you when I tripped, ergo I fell on you!"

"Trixie, let's not ignore the real situation here," said Odessa.

"Right, sorry." Trixie turned back to her parents. "Look…"

_One explanation later…_

Josie was reeling from the information just given to her. "Wow. So Trixie isn't just a seer, but she's also a telekinetic?"

"And I'm both a mind-reader and a time-jumper," added Whisper.

"And I can shrink and I have super speed," said Gordon.

"And I can jump impressively and hear for miles and send out shockwaves or something," pointed out Magnolia.

"And I am an elemental and I have these moon beams—" Zane held out his hand and a beam of light came through the window and knocked over Zach. "—which I just used on Zach. Again."

Zach got up, glowing. "Why is it always me?" He stopped glowing.

"What about me?" asked Odessa.

"Well, since you're a mortal-born, it's impressive that you have powers at all, let alone invisibility," said Steve.

"But the rest of us have gotten our second powers and Magnolia got a third," Trixie corrected, "So she should have something already. Maybe her mortal-birth is just holding her back a little."

Odessa looked at her clasped hands and separated them a little to see a ball of light inside them. She looked at it, confused. It started sparking. "Uh, guys?"

"What?" asked Layla.

The ball flew out of her grasp and went straight through the roof.

Odessa looked at them. "I think I'm an igniter."

"You think?" asked Magenta.


	7. 3 Times the Charm

Chapter 7: 3 Times the Charm

Savonna came into the Sage sisters' hideaway. 8 ethereal figures emerged from her body and formed the 8 eldest Sage sisters. Savonna opened her eyes to reveal that they were red…like Saletta's. "Thank you for getting out. It was getting cramped with all of our beings crammed inside here at the same time. We need to do something about this. If we don't catch the Mages, take their powers, and kill them soon, then we're gonna be stuck like this forever. Our bodies cannot contain us forever. Mine certainly couldn't."

"We'll catch them soon, Saletta," said Sharissa, "But not immediately. If we want to take their powers, we'll need to catch them once their powers are completely out. Obviously, they only have their first 2 by now."

"Then we wait. But trust me. When we get to them, they are going to die, slowly and painfully." She slowly smiled and began to cackle.

_The next morning…_

Trixie, Magnolia, Gordon, and Zane walked into the sidekick class.

"OK," said Mr. Boy, "First things first, we have a bit of a change in our class."

The 4 kids exchanged glances.

"Apparently, Trixie, Magnolia, Gordon, and Zane have all been transferred to the hero class."

Trixie's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yup," said Mr. Boy, "Congratulations."

Trixie looked at Magnolia and Gordon and Zane.

"Let's just go with it here." Magnolia pulled them out the door. She led them off to the mad science lab and they changed classes.

Odessa and Whisper were happy to see their friends joining them.

But a brunette girl with red eyes, sitting in the back corner, named Savonna Nightingale was not too excited about it. "Great, now what? Relax, Song, I have a plan…" She smirked, giggling insanely.

_A few hours later…_

Mario and Maxine knocked a couple kids into a wall as a fake person dropped into a chopper…thing.

Boomer blew his whistle. "Coonan, Webster, you have failed to save the citizen. Take your seats!"

The 2 kids walked off.

"Alright, you 2, what now? Heroes or villains?"

"Villains," Mario said instantly, resting his arm on his sister's shoulder.

"Shocker." Boomer wrote this down on his clipboard. "Pick your opponents."

"Let's have some fun with this one," said Maxine. She looked around. "How about Trixie and Magnolia?"

The 2 exchanged looks, not wanting a repeat of the lunchroom incident, and hesitantly went down there.

"Alright," Boomer briefed them, "You have 2 minutes to stop the villains and save the citizen."

Another fake person dropped halfway to the chopper machine, tied to the ceiling by a rope.

"And go!"

Immediately, Maxine turned into a puma and jumped Magnolia.

Magnolia held her hands out, sending out another shock wave that knocked Maxine back into her brother.

Mario looked at Trixie and turned into her.

Trixie blinked, her eyes wide.

Mario/Trixie smirked and held out his hand.

A post yanked itself from the floor and flew at Trixie.

Trixie instantly held her hand out, making the post stop. "You didn't say 'turn into other people' also meant 'duplicate their powers'!"

"I didn't know!" Odessa called.

Savonna walked into the shadows behind the bleachers. "Looks like a little interference is in order, girls." She smirked and held out her hand.

Trixie felt the post pulling itself away from her grip and fought to keep it under control so Magnolia could make her way past Maxine to the "citizen" while Mario was occupied. It didn't go so well.

The post flew from both Trixie's telekinetic grips and flew at Magnolia, knocking her into the wall, to which Maxine promptly shifted into a tiger and raced at her.

Magnolia held out her hands to knock her back with another energy wave, but it drained her a little bit more. She looked at Trixie. "Don't worry about me! Save the citizen!"

Trixie started at the citizen…right before another vision hit her…

_The gym window exploded. Again._

_The glass shards scattered around the room._

_Will covered Layla._

_Magenta shifted into a guinea pig and scurried off._

_Gordon sped out of the way._

_Someone walked into the hole in the wall where the windowpane had been—_

Mario knocked down Trixie.

Trixie fought him off, knocking him into the wall. She lay there on the ground, eyes burning, chest heaving, lungs on fire (metaphorically), and entire body aching and weak.

Magnolia was still trying to fight off Maxine.

Trixie saw this. She held out her hand and the broken post started at Maxine, pinning her to the wall. "Magnolia, go now!"

Magnolia raced at the citizen and jumped, grabbing it with just 9 seconds left on the clock.

Boomer blew his whistle. "Mario Maximus! You never attack a Seer while they're having a vision unless your intent is to kill them! You're lucky Trixie Stronghold there is still alive! Detention! Again!"

Savonna groaned. "We want her to be dead, you idiot! Keep it down, Sabine, someone might hear you! Don't worry, Sharissa, she's not gonna be a problem; I have another plan. Let's hope this one goes better than the first one. Soliel, shut up!" She looked around. "Let's see…" She noticed the window. "Time to call back good old Adele." She whistled.

The window burst open.

Trixie saw this. _My vision! _"Everyone down!" She rolled over on the floor and cradled herself, still to weak to move otherwise.

Will covered Layla.

Magenta shifted into a guinea pig and scurried off.

Gordon sped off.

While the gym practically cleared out, Trixie, now all alone, looked in the window and saw, just like in her vision, that someone was standing in the hole in the wall where the windowpane had been. She looked closer as the light faded behind the person and saw who it was.

A brunette woman in a jumpsuit-like outfit almost entirely composed of leather sat in the window-way. Her dark brown eyes glittered with sadistic pleasure as she smirked at Trixie.

Trixie started to get up.

The slightly-tanned-white-skinned woman who appeared to be about 22 or so dropped from the window to the floor and landed on her feet. She flipped her hair back and started to walked over to Trixie.

Trixie stood up.

Will was leading the rest of the gang out. Then he looked around. "Wait a minute…1…11. Trixie!" He raced back into the gym. The others quickly followed.

Trixie looked at the woman. "Who are you?"

"Name's Adele."

"Why are you here? How'd you get here?"

"I'm pretty powerful. You know, some very powerful people really want you dead."

"Why's that?"

Adele smiled. "You know, I didn't think to ask." She held out her hand and her fingernails turned to claws.

Trixie's eyes widened. She looked at the window and saw writing in the light. "You broke the window in the gym on power placement…"

Adele looked. "Oh, no, that's the very powerful people. They're the messengers, the big bad guys, I'm just the assassin. I'm a Warrior of Darkness."

Trixie eyed Adele's claws. "So I can see."

"Can we just skip the banter and go straight to the fight? The claws came out already, here."

"I noticed."

Adele started to walk toward her.

Trixie started to back away from her.

"You can't get away from me. I'm the one with the primal instincts. You know, you're lucky I'm letting you yak this long!"

Gordon raced in, pushing her out of the way and into the wall with one ramming.

Will flew in and punched Adele as she got back up, which knocked her through at least 3 classrooms before she stopped moving entirely and simply lay on the floor. Will instantly went to check on Trixie.

While he was tending to his sister, Adele's clawed hands curled into fists and her eyes opened. And her dark brown eyes had catlike slits for pupils.

Will examined Trixie all over. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Trixie then saw Adele coming back and her eyes widened in fear. "WILL!"

Will whirled around and saw her coming. He grabbed Trixie and flew her into the bleachers.

Adele started getting into a fight with the rest of the gang. She kicked Ethan in the chest, knocking him into a pile of balls and stuff. She punched Zach a couple times before he ended up on top of Ethan. Magenta didn't even bother fighting her, she just dove to help Zach. Adele moved on to Layla. Layla wrapped a few plants around her limbs, but she clawed them off and kicked Layla hard enough to knock her into the bleachers.

"Layla!" Will raced for her to inspect her. She was unconscious. "Oh, no…"

Warren started a fire. [Adele looks at camera.] Adele raced at him, kicked him a few times, and knocked him back into the bleachers as well.

Will looked at him. "Are you OK?"

"Super." Warren got up, sore.

Gordon started circling Adele. She kept swiping at him but never caught him. Finally, she closed her eyes, listened carefully, and cast a blind sweep, slicing him in the leg hard enough to knock him over but not seriously injure him. Gordon glared at her and she grabbed her leg. It was bleeding but not injured. She looked at Gordon, who promptly looked at his leg. It wasn't injured.

Magnolia started at her. She held out her hands and sent out her energy waves. Adele was knocked back a few inches but she held herself in place and jumped Magnolia, knocking her back into the wall.

Whisper started to attack. She froze time and jumped at her. She only attacked, breaking the spell. Whisper lay on the floor and stared at her. She was immune to time-jumping? Whisper, knowing that mind-reading wouldn't help a lot and that she was pretty much powerless now, raced off…running up the wall. She stopped halfway up the wall and noticed what was going on. She smiled and jumped off, landing on Adele, who merely threw her off, making her land on Warren.

Zane held out his hands, trying to send a beam of fire or something at her, but nothing happened. Adele raced at him and bounced back halfway to him. He looked around and realized that he had cast a shield! "Sweet." Suddenly, Adele jumped at him. She'd gone right through the shield! He kicked her off and ran over to check on Zach, holding up a shield over Zach, Ethan, Magenta, and himself.

Odessa held out her hands, igniting them and sending a beam of electricity at Adele. Adele dodged it no problem. Odessa raced at her. Adele dodged that, too, too fast for Odessa to register…so she kept running right through the wall. That's right, through it. And neither the wall nor herself received any damage. She looked around and saw that she'd emerged by the door into the gym. She transported through the boundaries! She smiled and turned invisible and started to attack again. Adele simply closed her eyes and listened for the footsteps. After a few seconds, she drew her claws and swiped at Odessa…piercing her in the abdomen.

"ODESSA!" Trixie cried.

Adele tossed Odessa to the floor and let her bleed.

Trixie held her hand out.

Adele was thrown through the wall and onto the grounds outside.

Will raced after her.

Adele raced off to the edge of the grounds and looked down to see that they were suspended about 1000 feet in the air. She jumped off.

Will ran up to the edge and looked over. Adele wasn't there. He sighed and ran back into the gym.

Trixie lay over the wounded Odessa.

"Is she gonna be OK?" Will asked.

Trixie, tears in her eyes, pulled her hand away from Odessa's wound to reveal that it was covered in blood.

"Oh, no." Will raced over and knelt down next to her.

Trixie looked at him. "I think she's dying."

Will looked at her.

Trixie whimpered and started to cry. She grabbed Odessa's arm and let her tears fall…not noticing her touch shimmering as well as Odessa's wound.

Odessa suddenly took in a gasp of breath. She sat up.

With still watering eyes, Trixie looked at Odessa's abdomen where the wound had been to see that she was completely healed.

Odessa looked at her.

Trixie smiled. "I'm a healer. We all have our third powers!"

Will smiled. He looked at Layla. She was still out of it. He stopped smiling.

Trixie looked. She looked at Will sympathetically. "She'll be OK, she's not dead…but I think she's in a coma." Will looked at her. "Head trauma."

Will sighed. "Who was that?"

"She said her name was Adele, that she was a Warrior of Darkness."

"A Warrior of Darkness?" Gordon cried, getting all their attentions (well, except for Layla's, of course) "When I was researching the Mages and stuff, it said that there was some cult called the Warriors of Darkness that were trained to kill people fighting for the side of good, people like us. It said they were assassins, professionals, hired killers."

Trixie thought that over. "She did say something about some very powerful people wanting me out of the way."

"So the question becomes…who wants you out of the way?" asked Magnolia.

"Or maybe the real question is, who wants _us_ out of the way?"


	8. Waking Nightmares

Chapter 8: Waking Nightmares

Will sat on Layla's bed in the hospital, holding her hand.

Trixie walked up to him and hugged him.

"Are you sure you can't save her? You did it with Odessa—"

"Healing her won't wake her up."

Will sighed.

Trixie took Will's free hand.

Will looked at her and leaned against her.

_Meanwhile…_

Savonna pinned Adele to the wall of her lair. "How could you let them escape alive?"

"They wouldn't let their guard down, they had 6 backup heroes, their powers were coming in third in full swing—"

"Their third powers are coming in?" Savonna looked at the wall. "What now, Salvia?" She smirked. "I think you'll like my plan, Susha: we get in good with the Mages, all friendly-like, and when we're close enough…" She smiled. "We stab them in the back; that is a great idea, Salve! Thank you!"

Adele blinked. "Am I missing something?"

Savonna sighed, giving her a look. "Our bodies couldn't contain us, remember? She's right; we're all 9 stuck in this same body until we can get the Mages' powers and pull ourselves back together. Sedalia, she knows that, she's wondering why we're talking like this."

"Yeah, you're all 9 talking aloud from the same body."

Savonna sighed. "The original Mages halfway stripped our powers and then used what they took to start their reawakening charm; ever since then, we've been trying every generation to get it back, get rid of them, and destroy/take over the world, and every generation, they banish us again. So now we're fighting back. And since this generation is receiving superhero training instead of magic training, it's gonna be that much easier."

Adele looked at her. "OK, I'm confused here. I can tell by the voice modulation when you're switching, I just don't know who's saying what."

Savonna groaned. "For crying out loud." She bent her head back and looked at Adele, her eyes now red like Saletta's. "How's this?"

"Same voice, different eyes—still confusing, but better."

She blinked and her eyes turned into the sea blue eyes of Serena.

Serena: Best part is we can keep it like this. No one's gonna know the difference, especially at a superhero high school.

Song: You're right. And this little infiltration is giving us a shortcut right into the lives of the Mages. See, you may not be leader but sometimes you can do stuff right.

Serena: Thanks, I—HEY!

Song: Sorry! Every time I think something I just say it. Man, you can be so bossy. OH! I didn't mean to say that!

Serena: Song!

Soliel: Serena!

Susha: Girls, shut up!

Sabine: Just—eh—g—GAH!

Adele sighed. "Here, I'll help." She slapped Savonna.

Savonna looked at her and nodded, rubbing her skull.

Sabine: Thanks, I needed that.

Savonna started using both hands to rub her skull.

Sharissa: Speak for yourself.

Savonna put both hands down and gave the wall a look.

Sabine: I believe I did.

Adele shook her head. "You really need to fix that. It's gonna confuse people, creep them out, and make them suspicious."

Savonna glared at her.

Salvia: Oh. And a ninja Warrior of Darkness with animalistic abilities trying to kill a freshman at a superhero school suspended 1000 feet in the air DOESN'T SET OFF ANY BELLS!

Adele looked at her. "You're the one who crashed the window with a light message and sent me there!"

Savonna looked at nothing.

Salvia: Oh, we did, didn't I?

Adele noticed the bizarre pronoun usage. "OK, now you're just giving me a headache." She started rubbing her temple.

Saletta: Why don't you just rest for a little while? We'll call when we need you. Right now all we gotta do is get in close with the Mages and tear them apart from the inside.

Sabine: And when it does get to be time to take their powers, we should probably do them all at once so they don't suspect anything.

Savonna smiled, her eyes widening.

Sedalia: Way to go, Sabine, a good idea! I guess sometimes you can be smart!

Sabine: Thanks! Wait a minute…

Adele nodded. "Yeah, I'm just gonna take Saletta's advice and lay down for a while just to figure out what just happened." She walked off.

Savonna rolled her eyes once Adele was gone.

Serena: So what now?

Saletta: Let's start with a little sympathy and work our way up from there.

With that, Savonna walked off to prepare to go back to Sky High. Suddenly, she stopped.

Song: Wait a minute. Why are they getting superhero training this time around and not magic training?

Susha: I don't know. Probably because they're related to supers this time around.

Song: Yeah, but…where are their Guardians?

_At the Stronghold house…_

Trixie flipped through the book about the Mages. Suddenly, she stopped.

_"The original Mages—Athena, Esther, Gideon, Ursa, Whisper, and Shepherd—were guarded by 6 magic beings of unknown origin—After, Ever, Guide, Umber, Wisdom, and Star. The 6 Guardians protected the Mages and helped in their fight against the Sage Sisters and the many other dangers the heroes had to face. Every generation, the Guardians track down the Mages' reawakened power-bearers and keep them safe as their power is developing. It's said that they sometimes don't even appear in human form and that they have the ability to masquerade as other beings. But such has never been the case."_

Trixie sighed. "Be nice to know where they are. Maybe these Sage Sisters are the ones who called that Warrior of Darkness here and want us out of the way." She looked to the left at a cage holding her pet bunny, Mitzy. "At least you're here."

_At Odessa and Layla's house…_

Odessa was doing homework in the attic she lived in with Layla. She couldn't concentrate. She and Layla always did the work together and now Layla wasn't there to help her. She stopped on one assignment, tired of working, and sighed, dropping her pencil. She looked at Measles, her pet…believe it or not…skunk. "I stink at this. You understand that, right?"

_At Zach and Zane's house…_

Zane was also doing homework. Oddly enough, he stopped at basically the same place Odessa did. He looked at his pet snake, Viper. "Kind of hard to focus considering the fact that someone's out there hunting us down. Man, if I knew where she lived, I'd have you track her down and bite her as hard as you can!"

Viper just looked at him.

_At Magenta and Magnolia's house…_

Magnolia was listening to some music in her room. She looked at her pet frog, Hopper. "Kind of weird that you and I can do the same thing."

Hopper croaked at her.

_At Whisper and Warren's house…_

Whisper was looking out her window at the street beneath her. She turned her attention to her pet cat, Tabby. "At least someone gets what it's like to be different." She petted her pet.

_At Ethan and Gordon's house (yes, they have the same house)…_

Gordon lay on his bed, reading a book. He stopped and looked at his pet dog, Basil the basset. "Nice to have someone to talk to."

_That night…_

Mitzy the bunny was in Trixie's room. Trixie was asleep in the bed. The clock next to the bed showed Mitzy the time. Just before midnight. Mitzy began to chew and paw at the cage door. Finally, it came open. Mitzy jumped out and jumped out the window, landing on the roof. She hopped along the roof and then found a safe way down: a ladder made of vines that Layla had grown to help her up to the roof to see Will when he was moping. Mitzy hopped down the vine ladder and down the street to meet none other than Measles the skunk, Viper the snake, Hopper the frog, Tabby the cat, and Basil the basset hound.

Suddenly, a white light irradiated in the center of their circle and conjured up the essence of 4 young women and 2 young men.

"Ugh!" said one of the women, "Hurts every time these days."

"Well, after the last Mages died so recklessly, there's hardly anything we can do," said one of the men.

"You know what?" said one of the other women, "Maybe these Mages need to know how their predecessors 'died.'"

"They're all asleep, it's midnight…" another woman said, "Why don't we show them? We've still got the Night Sight."

They exchanged looks. Finally, the man that hadn't spoke put his hand out. The first woman to speak smiled at him and put her hand over his. The other man and 3 women all put their hands together. A flow of magic burst from them and sent 6 beams of white energy flowing in different directions…and right into Trixie, Odessa, Zane, Magnolia, Whisper, and Gordon. And all 6 of them began to have the same dream…

_A young blonde woman was in the park, fighting a villain. She kicked him into a tree and held out her hand, making the tree wrap its branches around the villain and trap him. She made the tree squeeze tighter and tighter until the villain couldn't breathe and died. She dropped her hold on the tree, letting the villain's body drop to the ground._

_11 more people walked up to her. Before I go any further, I should point out who these 12 people were: the previous generation of Mages and their Guardians._

_The previous seer was a boy named Billy Brunswick. In fact, he was the seer who'd been Boomer's arch-nemesis. The 2 did not have a simple relationship and Billy hadn't always been read by everybody as a good guy, especially after some circumstances got him caught as the criminal when he really had been catching the true crook._

_The previous mortal-born was a young woman named Martha Boswell._

_The previous elemental was the aforementioned young blonde woman, Lydia Jameson._

_The other male on the team was one of the most powerful and went by the name of Ike Dickson._

_The previous mind-reader was a young woman named Jane Arden._

_The last Mage was a young woman named Charlene Adams._

_After watched over the seer, as she did every generation. She had long blonde (_light _blonde) hair and bright blue eyes. She was the Guardian that bore the ability to bend magical energy to her use._

_Ever guarded the mortal-born, as she did every generation. She had long ebony hair and dark brown eyes. She was the Guardian that could warp the power of other creatures._

_Guide watched over the elemental, as he did every generation. He had sandy-colored hair and matching sandy-brown eyes. He was the Guardian to turn to for answers to any question._

_Umber currently kept watch over Ike. He had dark brown hair and greenish-brown eyes. He was the Guardian able to fight any sort of creature no matter how powerful or strong._

_Wisdom guarded the mind-reader, as she did every generation. She had hair so blonde it was almost white and eyes that were white tinted purple. She was the Guardian capable of knowing absolutely anything._

_The last Guardian, Star, currently kept watch on Charlene. She had bright red hair and brownish-blue eyes that sparkled like her namesake. She was the Guardian one would go to to fend off evil beings, for her gaze would scare them away or her beauty would hypnotize them._

_Now all 12 of them were collected in a park. And the 6 Guardians were obviously worried._

_Charlene noticed her Guardian's worry. "What's wrong, Star?"_

_Star looked at her Mage sadly. "Something's very wrong. The Sage Sisters haven't attacked us or our Mages for 5 generations. That must mean something. There's no telling what they're up to. And…your powers…"_

_"I know they've been wrong lately—"_

_"I'm serious. The next generation is bound to be a lot different. I realize they won't be born until after you've died, but…I think the reawakening charm cast by the original Mages…is fading."_

_The others looked at her._

_"You can't be serious," said Lydia._

_"I'm afraid it's true," said Wisdom, feeling the spell's disruption, "The next generation may be the last. And I believe that is why the Sage Sisters have not attacked. They know that. They're saving their power to fight the upcoming generation."_

_"But that means…you won't be immortal anymore," said Jane._

_After nodded. "Yes. I'm afraid we won't be if the Mages are not continually brought forth."_

_Billy walked up to her. "No, no, you can't leave."_

_After wrapped her arms around her Mage. "We are both cursed and blessed by the way we cling to the ones we guide and guard."_

_Martha approached Ever. "Surely you won't leave us."_

_Ever shook her head. "Not yet. But I'm afraid we may have to if we can't keep this spell going. Truly, I would do anything to continue this job we've been assigned, but…there is nothing we can do."_

_The 6 Mages exchanged looks._

_Jane finally said what they were all thinking: "What if we gave up our power?"_

_The 6 Guardians exchanged looks._

_"What?" asked Umber._

_"You know," Jane said, "If we gave away our power now instead of just waiting for ourselves to die. It would keep you guys alive and it would make the next generation be born in the next year—which wouldn't just avoid prolonging the ending, it may give them the ability to keep the spell going. Right?"_

_"I don't even know," said Wisdom, confirming the severity of the situation, "No generation has ever done that before."_

_Ike sighed. "I guess no generation has ever cared about you guys like we do."_

_Umber could do nothing but hug him for that._

_"Seriously," said Guide, "There's no telling how such a sacrifice will affect the spell."_

_Lydia sighed. "I'm sorry, but…" She held up her hand to reveal a ring on her finger. "Thomas and I need to be together. And I can't in the right mind be with him when I have to worry about you guys leaving us. I will do anything to keep you alive, especially if it means I can actually be with my husband without having to worry about the magic world collapsing on us."_

_Guide looked at his Mage and sighed. "Look, I couldn't stop you from falling in love and I understand and condone your marriage, but—"_

_"I'm pregnant."_

_Guide stared at her in shock._

_"And I can't bear the thought of having this child in the midst of a worry like we're in now."_

_That changed the scale. Now they had no choice. They would have to go with Jane's suggestion and do what no previous generation of Mages had ever done: give up their power before they died._

_So Billy made the first move, holding out his hand._

_Ike put his hand on top of Billy's._

_Lydia joined in, not taking her eyes off of Guide._

_Jane sighed and put her hand in as well._

_Martha and Charlene put in their hands as well._

_And all 6 Mages thought of the same thing: _For the sake of the future generations and of our Guardians, we must give up our power.

_Suddenly, a blinding white light burst forth. When it faded, the 6 Guardians were gone._

_Lydia put her hand on her womb. "Did it work?"_

_Martha waved her hand, obviously trying to use her powers. Nothing happened. She sighed and put her hand down. "It worked."_

_Ike looked around. "Where do you think they went? To wait for the next generation?"_

_Jane sighed. "Who knows? You heard them: there's no telling how our sacrifice will affect the spell."_

_So all 6 Mages parted ways and walked off in separate directions._

_None of them saw 6 animals hiding in the shadows: a rabbit, a skunk, a snake, a frog, a cat, and a basset hound. The 6 animals ran off, as well._

Suddenly, Trixie wrenched awake.

Odessa, Zane, Magnolia, Whisper, and Gordon also woke up at that exact same time.

Trixie was panting. She looked at Mitzy's cage…to find it empty. Her eyes widened as she saw the open cage door. She hurriedly got out of her bed and raced around the room to find her. She then looked out the window and saw the 6 animals and the 6 spirits in the street. Suddenly, the 6 spirits faded and flowed into the 6 animals. Trixie quickly recognized them and realized what was going on. Mitzy, Measles, Viper, Hopper, Tabby, and Basil were After, Ever, Guide, Umber, Wisdom, and Star! This generation's pets were their Guardians!


	9. Confusion Much?

Chapter 9: Confusion Much?

Magnolia leaned against her locker door the next morning, having just received the whole story. "I can't believe it."

Gordon sighed. "What are the odds that our Guardians just so happened to be the pets we picked out?"

Trixie shrugged. "We're supposed to be automatically bonded to them. Any affection we had toward them was both from nature and from the spell."

Odessa nodded. "Boy, when they said 'there's no telling how the sacrifice could affect the spell,' they weren't kidding."

All 6 of them nodded in agreement.

Savonna then walked up to Odessa.

Sharissa: Hey. Odessa, right?

Odessa looked at her and nodded. "Yeah."

Sharissa: I'm Savonna. I heard what happened to your sister.

"Cousin."

Sharissa: Right.

Sedalia: So what's the damage?

Odessa sighed. "Head trauma. Coma. No telling how long it's gonna last before she wakes up."

Sabine: Wow. She's gonna be missing a lot of classes.

Odessa half-smiled.

"Whoa, did your eyes just change colors?" asked Zane, noticing it.

Savonna panicked.

Song: Yeah! Uh…thing…with the powers…

Susha: Freak thing.

"What are you again?" Whisper asked.

Sabine: Telekinetic.

Everyone looked at her, blinking.

Serena: Uh…like I said, freak thing.

That's when the bell rang.

"We'd better get to class," said Whisper, leading them off.

Soliel: Wait! As long as you're going, could you just—

They were already gone.

Soliel: Oh.

Sabine: (sarcastically) Well, that went well.

_A few hours later…_

The teachers were collected after class.

"Well," said Principal Powers, "It seems that the message in the window from power placement may have been properly sent."

"'Surrender the Mages or the Sisters shall return,'" Medulla quoted, "Do you believe that Trixie Stronghold and her friends, Odessa, Whisper, Gordon, Zane, and Magnolia may be 'the Mages'?"

"They are the first in a long time to exhibit more than one power. Besides Will Stronghold having 2, but all 6 of them have 3! It's just not right!"

"Are you sure it's not possible they're related to Superman?" Mrs. Yew sarcastically suggested. Everyone looked at her. "What?"

Principal Powers sighed. "Alright, alright, alright. We'll just keep our eyes on them. And who knows. Maybe the whole thing's just a fluke."

_With the Sisters…_

Savonna was pacing around the lair.

Sharissa: This is ridiculous. We're hitting the target but its not in the bullseye. At this rate, we'll be getting nowhere all semester.

Susha: We're never gonna be able to pull this off.

Song: Relax, I'm sure we can do this. Besides, we have until their sixth powers come in. We have plenty of time to move in on them.

Soliel: I'm not too sure about that.

Saletta: Pace yourselves, girls.

Savonna looked at her feet.

Sabine: Uh…we are pacing.

Serena: Shut! Up!

Salvia: Thank you. I don't think any of us could talk her talking.

Sabine: Hey!

Sedalia: Could everyone just be quiet? Look, we all agree that the plan isn't going so well. The closest we've gotten to them is our connection with the mortal-born's coma cousin.

Sharissa: Guys, guys, guys. I think we all agree this could be going better. You know what? Maybe we should just give up. Maybe we should move in on their _enemies _and work our way there.

Saletta: Girls, look: the Mages are halfway there. Song does raise a good point, we have plenty of time before it comes to time to take them out. In the meantime, let's just stick with the plan.

Savonna sighed and held up her hands in surrender.

Susha: You're right. You're right. The only thing we really need to worry about is their Guardians showing up.

Soliel: And what if their Guardians are already here? After all, they're bonded to them so it shouldn't be too hard to find them.

Song: Don't be stupid, Sole. How could they be here and us not have seen them?

_That night…_

The 6 freshman were assembled at Zane and Zach's house. And they'd brought their pets.

Trixie sat on a chair, holding Mitzy/After.

Odessa sat in a chair right next to her, a book in her lap and Measles/Ever in her arms.

Zane sat on the floor, reading some books on the table next to the cage holding Viper/Guide.

Magnolia sat on the couch directly behind him, bearing a small cage that held Hopper/Umber.

Whisper sat next to her, staring over the edge of the couch at Tabby/Wisdom lying at her feet.

And Gordon sat next to Whisper, leaning down just enough to pet Basil/Star.

"OK," said Zane, going over the next question for their homework, "If…" He glanced at the snake next to him. "I can't take this. It's hard to concentrate after what's been going on lately."

"It's hard on all of us," said Trixie, clinging close to her pet/Guardian. Then she turned enough to notice a picture on the mantle. "Zane…" She reached over and picked up the picture by the frame. "What's this?"

Zane looked to see what she was talking about and sighed. "I don't know, I don't pay attention to my mom's pictures."

Trixie looked closer. "'Cause the people in this photo look familiar."

Odessa sighed. "Let me see that." She took it with the hand not holding her pet/Guardian. She looked at it and her eyes widened as she realized what Trixie meant. "That… That's…" She looked at Trixie, who nodded.

Whisper reached over and took it. She got the same reaction. "Zane…why does your mom have this picture?"

"What?" Zane asked, looking at her.

Magnolia took the picture and examined it. "Oh boy. They're right, something not normal here. What's this doing in your house?"

Gordon looked at it. "Uh…Zane…what'd you say your parents' names were?"

"Thomas and Lydia…Jameson." Zane recognized those names from somewhere else. Their dream! He realized what that meant and snatched the picture to examine it. The picture was of the past generation of Mages, the ones who'd sacrificed their powers for the sake of their Guardians and ended up making them animals. And his mother was the previous elemental! "Boy, when she said she was pregnant, she wasn't kidding!"


	10. Some Explanation Required

Chapter 10: Some Explanation Required

Zane walked into the kitchen with his friends and their pets.

Zane and Zach's mother, Lydia, was in the kitchen. She looked at them. "Hey, guys." She smiled at Viper. For some reason, she'd never been able to hate him or be scared of him like she knew she should (I wonder why).

Zane held up the picture. "Mom…I know you weren't just a lighter."

Lydia looked at him, her smile fading. She took one glance at the picture and then again at her son and realized instantly what was going on: he knew her dark secret. She sighed. "How much do you know?"

"I know you were the elemental in a team of magic supers called the Mages until the year I was born when you gave up your power to rescue your Guardians and to give you and Dad a life with Zach and the upcoming baby—me."

Lydia looked at him. "You got all that from the picture?"

Zane sighed, putting down the picture. He had to tell her sooner or later. Perhaps now was the best time. "I got all that from the fact that I'm the elemental in this generation."

Lydia's eyes widened. "Oh…I didn't…" She looked at him, confused. "Wait…where's Guide? He's supposed to watch the elemental every generation. Where is he?"

Zane looked at Viper. The snake slithered down from him to Lydia and wrapped itself around her waist, flicking his tongue in her face.

Lydia looked at him in shock, breathing harder. "Guide?"

The snake nuzzled itself against her.

She put her hand on the snake's back. "Boy, you weren't messing with us when you said the sacrifice could mess up the spell."

Trixie sighed and sat down on a chair, resting Mitzy in her lap. "Might as well give you the rest of the story now: the 6 of us are the Mages and our pets are the Guardians."

Lydia groaned. "Oh, man, if we'd known this was gonna happen…" She sighed and crouched on the floor to let Viper/Guide slither down from her. "I've missed you. And as you can see, I really did get the life I was looking for with Thomas." She looked at the other kids. "So our power went into you guys that year?"

The 6 kids nodded.

She looked at Mitzy, Measles, Viper, Hopper, Tabby, and Basil. "And these guys are After, Ever, Guide, Umber, Wisdom, and Star?"

More nodding.

Zane looked at his mom. "Zach and Dad are out. You mind giving the story Mage to Mages?"

Lydia considered. "Hold on." She left the kitchen and went into the living room, picking up her laptop. She sat down on the couch and turned on the computer. She opened a video chat request that had been on hold for over 10 years. She sighed, taking in the moment. "I've been waiting to do this for a long time." She hit the "send" button.

_Across town…_

A brown-haired, blue-eyed woman lay on her bed, reading a book. Suddenly, her laptop beeped. She marked her place and picked up the computer, opening the video chat request.

_"To Charlene Adams_

_From Lydia Jameson"_

Charlene smiled and typed it open.

_In mid-California…_

A bright-brown-haired, blue-eyed woman was typing on her laptop. Suddenly, a video chat request popped up.

_"To Jane Arden_

_From Lydia Jameson"_

Jane smiled and hit the "accept" button.

_In New Orleans…_

A dark-haired, bright-eyed man was staring out his window. Suddenly, his computer chimed. He typed enough to reveal the video chat request.

_"To Ike Dickson_

_From Lydia Jameson"_

Ike smirked and accepted.

_In New York City…_

An auburn-haired, brown-eyed woman was cramming herself through her tiny apartment to the TV. When she finally got there, her laptop rang before she could turn the TV on. She groaned and checked to see what it was: a video chat request.

_"To Martha Boswell_

_From Lydia Jameson"_

Her sour disposition was suddenly changed to joy and she hurriedly sat down and joined.

_In Texas…_

A brown-haired, brown-eyed man was asleep on his couch. Suddenly, his laptop chimed. He jumped up, suddenly wide awake. He looked to see what had happened and saw a video chat request there.

_"To Billy Brunswick_

_From Lydia Jameson"_

He smiled. "Should've known." He quickly joined in.

_Back in Maxville…_

Lydia opened the chat. "Oh, it's so good to see you guys again!"

"I know," said Charlene, "You'd think that we'd see more of each other with me only just across town."

Jane smiled. "I so wish I was there. It'd be nice to see you guys again."

"No kidding," said Billy, "Here I've been hiding from that town so much I ended up in Texas."

Zane walked up to Lydia. "What's going on here?"

Lydia smiled. "This is Billy, Martha, Ike, Jane, and Charlene."

Zane's eyes widened. "You mean…"

"Yup." Lydia returned to the chat. "This is my son."

"Zach or Zane?" asked Martha.

"Zane. Zach is taller and his hair is a lot blonder. But, uh…there's a reason I called. Something major just happened."

"What, did your powers come back?" asked Ike.

"Is Guide there?" asked Jane.

"No and half-yes."

"'Half-yes'?" asked Charlene.

Lydia gestured to Viper, who slithered into her lap. "Ta-da."

All 5 of them were shocked at that.

"Oh my…" said Martha.

"Boy, he wasn't kidding when he said the sacrifice could mess up their immortality," said Billy.

"Wait, what's he doing there?" asked Ike, "Shouldn't he be guiding this generation's elemental?"

Lydia sighed and took Zane's hand. "He is."

Jane got where she was going. "Oh, you can't be serious."

"I am. In fact…" Lydia turned her laptop to show the other 5 Mages and the other 5 Guardians.

Charlene got what she was showing them first. "That's this generation? And that's the Guardians?"

"Yup," said Lydia.

Charlene felt out which one had been hers and her eyes fell sadly on Basil the basset. "Oh, Star…"

Basil/Star looked at her and whimpered.

Gordon knelt down next to her and petted her.

Lydia turned the laptop back to face her while the news sunk in. "Guys…they need to hear what happened."

"How urgent is it?" asked Martha.

"I don't know, I just got the news about the Guardians being animals and instantly raced to it."

"I suppose the name Adele wouldn't ring any bells," Trixie said.

"WHAT?" all 6 adults cried.

"OK, maybe it will."

"Adele's there?" Jane cried, "Jump it! Jump ship now!"

Tabby/Wisdom walked over there and purred at the camera.

Jane looked at her, practically understanding what was being told to her. "I know that they need to find a way to stop her… Wait. If Adele is there… Billy, the last vision you had was about her, right?"

Billy nodded. "Yeah, it was her coming back…" Billy got where she was going with that. "…under the command of the Sage Sisters. No wonder they never attacked _us_, they're THERE! Plotting to take down _this_ generation!"

"But we haven't seen the Sage Sisters," said Odessa, "The closest we've gotten is Adele."

"And the Maximus twins but I doubt they count," Magnolia muttered.

"Lydia's right," said Charlene, "We need to tell them. Everything."

"Well, this is hardly the way to do it," said Martha. She thought over the choices. "We're coming there."

"Really?" Lydia asked, smiling.

Martha smiled back and nodded.

"I'm game," said Jane.

"I'm for it," said Charlene.

"I'll be there in like two days," Ike said.

Billy hesitated.

"Come on, buddy," Ike egged him on, "You can do this."

"I don't know…"

"Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on—"

"You know, it's not as annoying when you're not poking me."

Ike shook his head.

Billy sighed. "Fine, but I'm being as discreet as possible."

"Understood," said Lydia, "I'll see you guys soon."

Everyone hung up.

"We're actually gonna be the first generation of Mages to meet the previous generation?" Whisper asked.

Lydia nodded. "Yeah." She looked at Viper/Guide. "I just can't believe this happened because we wanted to _help_ you. Boy, it went wrong." She sighed and looked at the newest generation of Mages. "So how far along are you? I suppose you haven't hit 6 yet?"

"Nope," Zane answered, "We just got to 3."

"What's the tally?"

"Well, Trixie is the seer and a telekinetic and a healer. Odessa has invisibility, igniting, and boundary-teleporting. I have the moon-beams and I'm the elemental and I can cast shields. Magnolia can jump to extreme heights, hear for miles, and send out energy waves. Whisper can read minds, time-jump, and walk on walls. And Gordon can shrink, speed, and pass pain."

As Lydia listened to this, her eyes widened. "That…that can't be right."

"What?" asked Magnolia.

"It's just that…those are the same powers."

"What?" asked Odessa, confused.

"The powers are supposed to be different every generation. Is it possible that sacrificing our power instead of letting it kill us gave you guys the same powers?"

"It would appear so," Whisper said.

Lydia thought it over. "Hold on a second." She walked over to the couch. She reached under it and pulled out a decorative case. She opened it and pulled out 6 silver chains, like amulets but with no charms. "There are many…many secrets to the Mages. No one generation has been known to discover every single secret. In fact, a few never even became aware of more than was common knowledge. But my generation…as you can see, we were different in almost every respect, particularly how we gave up our powers. However, we did figure out a few things some previous generations missed." She tossed the 6 chains at the current generation of Mages, who each caught one perfectly.

Trixie looked at hers. There wasn't anything particularly special about it, but she still decided to put it on.

"The thing about the Mages is…into every generation, 6 are chosen. Six gain their powers and fulfill their duties, protecting the world from the threats that ordinary superheroes can't defeat. Magical threats. The original Mages saw how awful the threats to humanity were and they knew that it would be impossible for it to not just continue. They also knew that they would be the only ones capable of destroying the threats and that our world would be doomed if they didn't just keep on living. But they knew that if they simply made themselves immortal, it would drain their powers and they would no longer be suited as protectors of the planet. So they did the one thing they could do: they imbued the chosen immortality into the 6 magicks who protected them and then used the power collected from the people they defeated to cast their power into future generation, linking the Guardians directly to each generation's chosen."

Trixie smiled, clinging close to Mitzy/After.

"Over the centuries, the Mages' power continued to grow stronger and stronger…then, a few generations ago, it began to steadily decline. The spell was fading. And the Guardians knew that. Apparently, so did the Sage Sisters. Because when the spell began weakening, the Sisters stopped fighting us, waiting for the right time to strike. So when our generation came along, everything fell apart. As soon as our Guardians began to realize what would happen soon, they told us. The next generation may very well be the last unless the spell could somehow reload. And as soon as the Mages' reawakening spell faded, so would the Guardians' immortality. They would die, quickly but painfully. Naturally, we couldn't let that happen. So we did the one thing we could do: we gave up our power, a sacrifice no other generation had thought to make. The shock put onto the spell made it start all over. Unfortunately, it looks like it took a little too big of a shock onto the Guardians."

Mitzy/After, Measles/Ever, Viper/Guide, Hopper/Umber, Tabby/Wisdom, and Basil/Star leaned closer to their bonders.

"And it looks like it may have messed up the manifestation portion of the spell. The powers are the same now. Trixie, Billy had the same powers you do now. Odessa, Martha had yours. The same goes for Zane with me, Magnolia with Ike, Whisper with Jane, and Gordon with Charlene."

"What else could you guys do?" asked Gordon, curiously.

Lydia smiled. "Well, Billy was the seer. He could also heal, move things will his mind, make things explode, drain energy, and fly. Martha was the mortal-born. She could turn invisible, ignite, teleport through boundaries, grant wishes, make people's fears come alive, and even manipulate certain effects of reality. I was the elemental and could cast moon-beams, cast shields, make a light, animate things, and call forth magical creatures. Ike had a super jump, super-hearing, energy blasts, the ability to see how people will die, the ability to take stars from the sky and turn them into blades, and a flash-bang. Jane was the mind-reader and could time-jump, walk up walls, communicate with animals, influence people, and cast a shield that no one could pass through without dying. Unfortunately, that last power sort of drained her. And Charlene could shrink, move at extraordinary speeds, pass her pain to other people, cast illusions, project her astral form, and transform into animals."

"So, if the spell keeps going the same way, we're gonna end up with those powers?" Magnolia asked.

Lydia nodded. "And, uh…one more thing…be careful out there. In this line of business, you never know who to trust."


	11. Previous Generation

Chapter 11: Previous Generation

Trixie fingered the silver chain around her neck. "What's up with the necklaces anyway?"

"They're not necklaces, they're talismans," said Lydia, "Legend says that if the Mages 'discover the power of the spells,' they'll unlock extraordinary power and the talismans will manifest with their crests. Even Wisdom and Guide never figured out what that meant."

While Trixie kept fingering the chain, the doorbell rang.

Lydia answered the door to find… "Charlene!" She hugged her friend.

Charlene smiled and hugged her back. "It's been a while. Well, technically speaking, it's been like an hour, but…"

Lydia giggled. "Same old Charlene."

Charlene walked in and saw the current generation there. "Hey, guys."

Basil/Star saw her and raced at her, jumping at her and knocking her down to lick her face.

Charlene giggled. "Star! Star! Get off!" She smiled, pushing the basset hound off and gleefully rubbing her head and bouncing her ears. She giggled at the puppy. "You're still a little pup, aren't you?" She giggled again…then slowly her smile faded. "You're just a little pup." She felt Basil/Star's long ears. "I did this to you."

Lydia looked at Viper/Guide. "We all did." She turned back to Charlene. "But we didn't know it would happen, we didn't mean for it to."

"We knew there would be consequences if we messed with the spell!" Charlene corrected her.

"Hey, they're alive! The current generation is still going strong!"

"Yeah, and with our luck, so are the Sage Sisters."

Lydia had nothing to say to that.

Charlene then turned to look at Gordon. "So you're my replacement. Star's new buddy." Gordon nodded in return. "We've got a lot to talk about. How far?"

"Three powers," Gordon answered, knowing what she meant simply out of instinct.

Lydia looked at Charlene, knowing she would learn this one sooner or later: "Char, they're the same."

Charlene looked at her, not knowing what she meant. "What?"

"They have the same powers we did, just not all of them yet."

Charlene processed this. "But…that's not possible…"

"Yeah, by that logic, neither is turning the Guardians into these animals." She looked at Viper. "No offense, Guide." The snake just flicked out his tongue at her. "See? I don't know if he's actually sticking his tongue out at me or breathing."

Whisper shook her head. "Something's not right. If the spell just kept getting stronger and stronger, why did it start to decline and come to this?"

"Well…" Lydia started to answer…then stopped. "I don't know. I don't think Guide or Wisdom could explain that either."

Charlene suddenly got an idea. "One thing might be able to. Do you still have the Tome?"

Lydia thought about it for a second and then raced to the bookcase, reaching her hand into the back of a shelf and pulling out a red-leather-backed book with gold etchings on the front. "Yeah, I got it."

Charlene was pawing through her bag. Finally, she pulled out a matching book, except that the gold etchings were shaped differently. "The Guardians said that the Tomes had never been brought together or even opened since the day they were Enchanted, right? Maybe the secrets to the spells are inside and reading them will show us where the spell went wrong."

"Well, we can try, but it'll take all of the Tomes together. Even the original Mages could never open them once their True-Writing was etched inside."

Zane looked at Whisper. "Any idea?"

Whisper shrugged. "As far as I can tell, the original Mages put all their secrets into those books but it came out in some magic language and since then they've been passed down through generations but never opened or even all kept in the same room."

"Right," Lydia said, "but they might be able to tell us what's going on. So we just get the others to bring theirs and we can get them all together."

Viper/Guide suddenly hissed at her.

"I know it's dangerous, but it doesn't seem like we have a choice."

Viper/Guide just lay there, flicking his tongue out every few seconds.

Odessa then looked at her watch. "Uh oh. We better get home." She picked up Measles/Ever and then slung her bag over her shoulder.

Trixie took Mitzy/After and her things.

Magnolia grabbed Hopper/Umber.

Whisper picked up Wisdom/Tabby.

Gordon took Basil/Star. Then stopped himself from following the others as they set off. He turned back to Charlene. "Do you want her for the night?"

Charlene looked at him and smiled. "No. Keep her. She's your Guardian now, I had my time with her."

Gordon nodded, passed her a brief smile, and left.

Trixie headed down the dark streets with Mitzy/After in her arms. She was sort of sullen about the incidents of the night. You know why? Because, technically speaking, it was her fault that After was a rabbit and the last Mages were mortal (instead of dead, but still). Suddenly, her emotions were projecting themselves. She kept walking, paying no attention to the fact that every streetlight she passed was now exploding. She finally noticed something when she passed a fire hydrant and it blew, sending a large burst of water at her and drenching her. She guarded Mitzy/After, staring at her work in amazement.

Odessa kept walking home, Measles/Ever in her arms. She looked at the skunk she held. "I wish I could see you when you were human." Suddenly, her eyes flashed. _She now stood in an old park, watching as human Ever sat next to a tree and played with a passing squirrel. _Odessa shut her eyes and opened them again. She was back where she started. "OK…"

Zane sat on his bed, watching as Viper/Guide slithered around his terrarium. He looked out the window. Nothing. He sighed. All these years, he'd never known all this about his own mother. Why hadn't she said something? Why hadn't she told them? Unfortunately, he didn't realize just what he was stirring up. Suddenly, a light strike went off. Inside. Not only was there not a cloud in the sky, there was now a pile of dirty clothes on fire on his floor. He quickly put it out, wondering what just happened and how pure light could've done that.

Magnolia was walking home with Hopper/Umber. She looked at the frog on her shoulder. She'd seen so much of his past by now. Obviously, he'd never really had much of a life. Suddenly, she got closer to that as well. She was seeing into the future…only a few months. She gasped and turned away. She couldn't stand what she saw.

Whisper walked home, Wisdom/Tabby creeping along at her side. She looked at the cat. "Kind of wish I could understand you." The cat meowed. Suddenly, she stopped. "Did you just talk?"

Gordon was headed home, Basil/Star padding along beside him. He smiled at the basset as they finally approached his house. He gave the flower bed a look. "Honestly, that garden's never gonna bloom." He led his "dog" inside and locked the door behind them. Suddenly, a glamour overcame the flowerbed as an illusion sprang up of the plants all in bloom…

_Meanwhile…_

Savonna groaned.

Song: Is it just me or did I catch a rift?

Sedalia: I think we all did. Not only did the Mages just hit four…THEY'RE GETTING THE TOMES TOGETHER!

Susha: And the last Mages! They're still alive! (growling) …not for long…


End file.
